Reinvented
by Galgalatz
Summary: Bella comes from a rich family; she is sick of people befriending her because of her money and decides to reinvent herself in the place where no one knows her… a boarding school on the other side of the country. Rated T, just to be safe
1. A fresh start

**Disclaimer- I don't own any of the Twilight characters, although the plot is all mine :)**

PREFACE

I have always wondered what it'd be like if I had been born into a different family…would I be the same person I am today? Would people have treated me differently? I sit in my car pondering these questions while the rain beats down on the window. I am now well on my way to find out though, aren't I? I chuckle grimly to myself…

CHAPTER 1 – A FRESH START

I stand in my room looking one last time at the packed boxes, feeling that this is surely a dream.

Somehow this all feels completely unreal even though I knew it was coming. Hell, I basically begged for this!

I'm scared of course. I mean, who wouldn't be? In a matter of hours, I'll be on a plane leaving the place I've called home for the last seventeen years, heading forward to the unknown. Yet, my nervous jitters are nothing compared to the excitement I have from my first attempt at independence. And from my plan of course, but I'll explain that later.

* * *

I look around the airport trying to find the sign that my driver is supposedly holding. I've been walking around in circles for the past twenty minutes and am starting to lose faith in myself that I'll be able to pull this off. I mean, I've just landed and I'm already messing up.

"Isabella Swan?" I gasp, turning around, frightened for a moment from being suddenly pulled out of my inner monologue. I find myself facing a middle-aged man wearing a suit and a bored expression.

Upon seeing my face, he straightens up a bit and waits for me to answer with a now much more polite expression on his face. I nod while sighing inwardly to myself and begin to follow him.

I really hoped I wouldn't have to come to school with a driver. I fought about it with my mom for a whole week but eventually she won -I'm a real sucker for guilt trips.

Why she didn't think I'd be perfectly capable of going on a bus like a normal person is beyond me. God knows how her head works, but to tell the truth, I'm not all that surprised. I mean, I've been babied from the day that I was born, given anything I could possibly want and a whole lot of other things I didn't even know I needed.

I tried explaining this once to my friends back at home, but they didn't really understand what I was talking about. Actually, that would be an understatement. They basically stared at me with blank faces the whole time, and when they finally recovered, they were just all like "But don't you _like_ getting stuff and being rich? I mean, it's like, totally completely cool and stuff!"

Yeah that just shows you how deep they go. But honestly? It got me thinking. Am I like them? Is that how people see me? Do they think that I'm some rich stuck-up snob who thinks about how much better she is than others just because her daddy's richer?

I was actually starting to get frustrated, wondering all the time about how different my life really is because of money, and every time I thought about it, I always came back to the same conclusion that I can never really know, and that just frustrated me more.

You see, I was born to two very well-known and rich people. Something that made me one as well. I wasn't nearly as well known as my parents, but boy was I rich. My dad, Charlie Swan, is basically the new Steve Jobs. He invented a new game station, Power X, that kids all over the world are after. My mom, Renee Swan, besides being the wife of the richest man in the country, is also well-known for her modern art exhibitions. Even people who aren't all that into art have heard of her; she's created a whole new style of art that's sure to put her down in the history books. I'm for the most part rather unheard for my own achievements, but merely being the spawn of my parents get's people's attitude to change around me.

Anyway, around that time I was frustrated by my upbringing, my old school started a new program where the students talked to other kids from different schools around the country, and I got paired up with a girl my age from a school called "Forks Academy of Washington." Her name was Alice and we hit it off immediately. We talked about our lives, and I listened in envy as she told me stories about her friends and classes. I was hesitant though to tell her about myself in the beginning, since I was afraid that when she found about my money she'd start treating me differently.

Kind of like every one of my friends-if I can even call them that. I swear sometimes I think they're just acting like my friends because of my money. Or maybe I'm just paranoid. It isn't much fun anyway.

So you can imagine my surprise when she continued treating me the same even after I told her who my parents are. Sure, at first, she asked tons of questions and acted almost like a fan girl, but she got over that rather quickly, and when she did, we picked up right where we left off. Only rarely do I let some detail slip and realize by her response how completely abnormal that "little detail" actually is.

As time passed I realized that even though listening to Alice's stories was fascinating, it just wasn't enough. I wanted to experience these things for myself. I knew I couldn't and that made me depressed.

Alice noticed of course, and when she found out why, she nearly laughed in my face.

"That's what's been bugging you so much? I should have known you'd be the 'what if' type!"

"Jeez, Alice, didn't anyone ever tell you it's not nice to laugh at other people's pain?"

"Sorry, but it's just so funny because it's _so_ obvious what you should do," Of course that immediately got my attention.

"What do you mean it's _so_obvious what I should do?"

"Well, you said that you're all upset because you can't ever possibly know what it'd be like to live a life without having people treat you differently because of your money, right?"

"Yeah I guess," I answered hesitantly, starting to feel that there was something big going on in that hyper mind of hers.

"And you want to experience for yourself how it would be?"

"Well yeah," I said, feeling more confused by the moment.

"Then don't you see what you should do?"

"Um, no not really," Where was she going with this?

"God, Bella. You know, for a smart girl sometimes you're really clueless."

"Would you just get to the point already?" I snapped, starting to feel quite frustrated.

"Humpf. So impatient," she replied bitterly.

"I'm sorry, Alice, please continue," I sighed, immediately feeling guilty.

"As I was saying..." Alice dragged. "What's so obvious is that if you want to see how it'd be like for people to treat you normally then all you have to do is to be somewhere where no one knows you," she states as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"But, Alice," I groaned "_Everybody_knows me here!"

"And that's why you need to move," she says in a matter of fact tone.

At that point I started arguing with her about all the reasons why I couldn't possibly just _move._It didn't take her long to come up with an answer to every possible excuse I may have. Even though at first it sounded ridiculous and impossible, I found that the idea was starting to grow on me.

Soon enough, I found myself actually considering the idea and how I would do it. If I truly was to move, I would go to Alice's school, which was a boarding school. It was far away enough that no one there would recognize me, and I would have close help in the form of Alice since she would be in on the secret.

The biggest problem of course was my parents; they just couldn't understand why I would want to leave my _excellent_private school -their words not mine- for some not so special boarding school on the other side of the country.

But I can be stubborn too, and after hundreds of arguments they finally agreed.

A loud snap of fingers pulls me out of my thoughts and I realize after a moment that it's the driver trying to get my attention.  
He's looking at me, waiting for me to answer. What did he ask again?

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I ask politely.

"I said," he explains slowly. "Do you want me to take you to the headmaster's office or are you good on your own?"

I suddenly realize that we have already arrived at the school and are now in front of the main entrance.

"I'm good, thanks for the offer," I say quickly and before he might decide to come with me anyway, I step out of the car.

I take in a deep breath and mutter "Here goes nothing" before taking my first step into the unknown.


	2. Welcome to Forks Academy of Washington

Chapter 2- Welcome to Forks Academy of Washington

"Bellllaaaa!" Alice screamed, causing some people to turn their heads to the source of noise.

Now I know that some people love to be the center of attention and that I am expected to like it too, considering everything, but really I just hate it.

I shifted uncomfortably under their probing gazes and turned to look at Alice.

She was already very close to me and I could see her basically bouncing up and down from excitement.

This was actually the first time I really got to see her, since before we only talked on the phone.

She was very small, but had a slender figure, her hair was dark black and cropped short. She styled it in a spiky way which I thought looked very good on her, but also made her look a bit like a pixie.

She had a very innocent look about her, but knowing her that was only a first impression, she could be very frightening if she wanted something done her way.

All in all she was very beautiful, much better than plain old me.

"Hi! How are you? Was your flight ok? Did you get all your luggage? I lost mine once, it was really annoying. That's why I don't like airports so much, do you like airports? I bet you don't, I mean who does? Not me that's for sure." Alice said all this in one breath while I just stood there like an idiot. Not noticing my silence she continued.

"Well, you're here now and that's what matters! Now come on let me show you around! You'll need to get to your dorm and then check in at the headmaster's office since you're new."

"Sure." I answered excitedly, her good mood starting to affect me.

She smiled and started walking so I followed her.

"And that's the cafeteria, and over there we hang out in breaks and..." Alice continued talking while pointing out to various locations an campus. We had already been walking for over an hour but the campus was just _huge._

When I had first started considering Alice's plan I had checked the school's website to see what it'd might be like here. I knew that the school was known for its being mainly dedicated to art. That was actually one of the things that convinced me to move, I love to draw, art has always been a sort of sanctuary for me when I got upset and it always made me feel better. That was one of the few things that I got from my Mom. Other than that, I was Dad's girl through and through.

I also knew that the school was very free with the students, we didn't have a uniform (thank god!) and the only rule that was truly important to uphold was no violence or alcohol.

Sure we had a curfew and stuff, but Alice assured me that the teachers didn't mind so much as long as we weren't doing anything stupid.

And the dorms were definitely cool, even though I had to share a room. Luckily since Alice was close to the headmaster she was able to pull a few strings and put us in the same room. We shared the room with some girl named Rosalie who I hadn't met yet but Alice told me was, "A bit of a bitch at first but nice once she gets to know you."

"And this is the Headmaster's office, you should probably go there now, I can meet you later for dinner and I'll introduce you then to everyone, Ok?" Alice asked.

"That's fine." I smiled at her and wanting to thank her somehow for all that she did for me I added, "Thanks, Alice, for helping me... I appreciate that."

"Aww, you know I'm happy to, you're my friend remember?" She said with a bright smile. "Well, that's quite enough stalling! Come on, you need to go meet the headmaster."

She showed me exactly where to go and left me alone facing the door.

I nervously knocked hoping to be done with this as soon as possible. From my knowledge being at the Headmaster's office was not a fun experience.

I opened the door after a short "come in" and saw a blond man not possibly older than late twenties or early thirties sitting behind a large desk. He was very handsome and had a kind smile on his face.

The place looked exactly the way I imagined the Headmaster's office would look like. There was a large wooden desk in the middle of the room, with two chairs on the side I was standing on and a large black leather chair on the other where the blond man was sitting. On the walls were various awards and pictures that belonged to him. He must be a very accomplished man, I mused.

On the desk there was one picture I noticed most, in it was the blond man standing next to a beautiful woman with caramel colored hair and beside them stood two children, with a shock I realized that the girl must be Alice, I had no idea she was the headmaster's daughter! She looked a bit younger and her dark hair was long cut, but beside that she looked the same. The other child was a boy, he had a weird shade of reddish brown hair and piercing green eyes, He too was very beautiful, perhaps the most of the lot.

The blond man caught me looking at the picture and said, "Ah, I see you noticed the picture. Recognize Alice?"

Surprised, I gave him a questioning look. How did he know I knew Alice?

Noticing my expression the man chuckled. "Alice hasn't stopped talking about your arrival, I knew you two know each other," he explained.

"Who are the others? If I may ask," I added quickly, not sure if I wasn't overstepping any lines.

"Well, beside Alice and myself there's my wife Esme and my son Edward," he said with a proud smile on his face.

"Anyway, shall we get to the topic? You must be tired from your flight and you didn't come here to discuss pictures did you?"

I nodded, chuckling and sat in one of the chairs in front of me.


	3. Meet the gang

Half an hour later I stepped out of the office. The blond man, who I found out is name is Carlisle, was very nice and welcoming. He told me how the school works, what classes I have and showed me my schedule. All in all it wasn't that bad, though I still couldn't see the imagination between him and Alice. How does such a calm and collected man have such a hyper, talkitive daughter?

I went back to the dorm to get some rest before dinner, only to find out that fate had other plans for me.

In my room Alice was trying to decide what to wear.

Not seeing I was completly out of it, Alice started modeling different outfits asking me what looked best on her.

When she finally finished she looked at me, suddenly noticing something. "Uhmm, Bella, you don't plan on going like that to dinner, do you?"

I looked down at my outfit, trying to understand what the problem with my clothes was. Normally at my old school I would have dressed in my uniform, but seeing as I was on a plane the whole day I was dressed in a plain t- shirt and jeans.

"What's the problem with my clothes?"

"Bella, no friend of mine goes around like that." She reprimanded, making me feel like I somehow misbehaved for not abiding fashion law. "Now come on, show me what you got."

Reluctantly, I opened my suitcase, knowing exactly how Alice would respond if she felt this strongly about clothes.

And I was right. Alice gasped, and I swear her mouth dropped down way below normal.

"B-but, How? If you have this, then then _why_ do you wear _that_?" She stuttered.

Honestly, I just don't get the deal people make about clothes. I mean, it's just something to put on so we won't go around naked. Why make it into so much more than it needs to be? My mom on the other hand, much like the rest of the world, doesn't really share the same philosophy as myself. Nearly everything I own, she bought me, including the stuff in my suitcase that Alice was at the moment worshipping.

"I don't really care what I wear." I answered her.

She looked, if possible, even more shocked than before. "But you have _that." _She said, while pointing back to the suitcase.

Remember what I said about letting slip some little detail, and realizing by Alice's responce how compelely unnormal that "little detail" actually is? This is exactly what I was talking about.

I sighed, trying to find a way to explain what I wanted to say without sounding like a rich snob. "Alice, you know how rich I am, this," I pointed to the suitcase. "Is nothing."

Realizing that this conversation was getting uncomfortable for me, Alice tried to compose her face and go on, eventually succeeding.

"Yeah, I know I'm supposed to know this," she sighed. "I guess hearing about it and seeing it just isn't the same thing, but what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Well you obviously can't go around in _those! _People will know something is up with you the moment they see you!" She exclaimed, making me feel like an idiot. How could I have not thought of this myself? If it weren't for Alice, I would have gone around wearing these clothes and the whole point of my being here would have been ruined!

"Shit! What am I supposed to do now?" I panicked.

I suddenly noticed that Alice had the weirdest expression on her face, something full of hope and excitement at the same time.

"We'll go shopping, of course!" She squealed like a delighted kid. "There are shops on campu,s and we can get you normal clothes and everything!"

I groaned, I absolutely _loathe_ shopping though this is probably my punishment for not thinking ahead in the first place.

And then she changed completely, and put on the most adorable, sad pleading face I have ever seen.

She looked up at me with heartbreaking eyes and started to beg. "Please, Please, Please, Please..."

I sighed, knowing I'm about to cave. She did have a point though, I really did need new clothes...

"Fine." I groaned.

"Yay!" Alice shrieked, and started jumping excitedly. "We'll go tomorrow after school. I know the most perfect place ever..."

"Alice, calm down, we'll decide details later. What am I supposed to do for now?" I asked, trying to calm her before she got too caught up with her plans.

"Oh that's easy, I'll just give you something..." And thus Barbie Bella began.

* * *

A hundred outfit changes later, Alice finally decided I was presentable enough for dinner with everyone. Despite my usually easy going self, I was starting to get nervous. What if they didn't like me? I pushed the thought away and focused on Alice, who was going on and on about some up coming event...

"Oh here we are!" Alice said brightly as she pushed the door open. We were at some resteraunt on campus. Alice had explained to me earlier that the school provided us breakfast, lunch and dinner but that most prefered going out to different resteraunts on campus since the school's food wasn't all that amazing.

She started going towards some table at the back which I could see wasn't empty. I took a deep breath, and followed her. As I came closer, I was able to see that there were three people at the table, two boys and one girl.

Upon reaching the table, Alice slid in the seat next to one of the boys, leaving me standing, unsure what to do.

"Jasper, Rosalie, Edward this is Bella, the girl I told you about. Bella this is Jasper." She said, pointing to the blond boy next to her. "He's my boyfriend."

"Hi, How are you?" He greeted warmly.

"Great, thanks." I answered with a smile. I could feel my confidence coming back, so far they all seemd pleasant enough.

"This is Rosalie, she's our roomie and Jasper's twin sister." Alice continued the introductions.

"Hi, Rosalie, nice to meet you." I said a bit nervously, remembering what Alice told me about Rose. Although her description of her hardly did her justice. Rose was downright beautiful, with long, wavy blond hair, sea blue eyes and an amazing figure. She honestly looked like she had just stepped off a runway.

She merely nodded, acknowledging my presence but not answering, which was a bit rude in my opinion, but I wasn't phased as I'd met worse. I sat down in the booth next to Alice and across Rosalie.

"And this is Edward." She said finally, pointing to the boy I recognized from the picture. To say the picture didn't do him justice would be an understatement.

Edward was every bit as beautiful as Rosalie if not more in my opinion, his hair was a strange shade of reddish brown and was in a mess but that only made me want to put my fingers through it, his eyes were a beautiful shade of shocking emerald green and made me feel as if he was looking straight into my soul. Even though I could only see the top af his body as he was sitting across from me, I could tell he was a bit muscular, less than Jasper yet more than average. I looked down blushing when I realized I had been staring at him.

"He's my brother. Well sort of, I'm adopted." Alice explained.

Oh, well that explained why she was nothing like Carlisle... Why didn't she tell me this before?

"Alice," Edward groaned. "Not _sort of_, I'm your brother completely, and you know that."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Alice brushed him off. "Where's Emmet? I told everyone to be here."

"You know Emmet, he's probably late as usual," Rosalie replied.

Alice chuckled and teased. "Which is one of the many reasons why you lovvvve him."

"I do not!"

"'Course not." Alice retorted, still chuckling.

Feeling out of the conversation I interrupted. "Who's Emmet?"

"Oh, you'll meet him soon. He's Edward's best friend, so he hangs out with us, and of course Rose is always all over him..." Alice explained.

"I am not! Shut up!"

"Who needs to shut up and why?" A booming voice asked from behind us. Startled, I jumped around. My first impression was that he was _huge. _He looked rather intimidating with his giant muscles and towering figure but there was something about him that also gave me the impression that he was just a giant teddy bear. Probably the very childlike expression and grin on his face.

"Ah, Emmet, thank goodness you're here! I swear if I hear those two bickering for one more second I'll explode." Edward said in relief.

"Glad to be of service, my man." He turned, and noticed me for the first time. "And who might this be?"

"Oh, Emmet, as if you haven't heard Alice talking about her every second for the past month!" Rosalie teased Alice back. What's this about everyone I'm meeting telling me that they have heard oh so much about me from Alice? I must have had a confused expression on my face because Alice explained with a guilty expression-

"I did not talk about her _every_ second I just talked about her,"

"A whole lot," Rose offered.

Alice stuck out her tongue in Rose's direction in an act of annoyance, and I laughed. I don't know what Edward was going on about, these two were hilarious.

Edward looked my direction with a weird expression on his face. Did I have something stuck between my teeth?

A waiter finally arrived to take our orders and I suddenly had a great idea for a game.

Alice must have noticed my giant smile because she asked me if everything was Ok.

"Everything's fine, Alice. I just had a fun idea if you're all up for it." I said a bit nervously. What if they thought I was being weird?

"Like a game? count me in!" Emmet shouted excitedly, and a few people even turned to look at us, startled by the sudden noise.

"Shh, Emmet, you loaf! I'll join if you'll be quiet," Rose shushed.

"Thanks, Rosie baby! Now come on, Eddie, join us?"

"Ugh, Emmet, you _know_ I hate it when you call me Eddie. Besides, I don't want to." Edward said annoyedly. So he wasn't joining us? Pity... Wait, what do I care? I don't care... Right?

Right.

"Join us, party pooper, or your new name will be Eddikins, and I warn you- it will not be pretty." Emmet threatened with a devious smile.

Edward visibly paled and quickly gulped "fine."

"I want in too!" Alice exclaimed excitedly.

"If Alice is in then so am I." Jasper said, joining as well.

"Well? Are you going to tell us what your idea is now?" Emmet started, excited again. I think Alice was affecting him. Either that or they were both on the same energy drink.

"So here goes- how about instead of ordering what we choose, each one will have to pick something random out of the menu without looking?" I began explaining.

"And they have to accept it and eat no matter what, whoever caves buys everyone else dessert!"

"Awesome! Me first!" Emmet announced. Still hyper, he picked up the menu, closed his eyes, and started scrolling down with his finger beside the list of dishes.

His finger suddenly stopped and he opened his eyes. "Shit! I got spinach pie! Gross." He pretended to gag.

Alice laughed. "Now me!" She too picked up a menu and did the same as Emmet, only when she opened her eyes her smile widened. "Ha, I got pizza! I'm totally gonna win."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Emmet whined, and turned to look at me. "Can she even do that?"

I shrugged. "I never said the food had to be digusting."

Alice then turned to Jasper. "Come on now you!"

Jasper chuckled at her enthusiastic expression and went throught the process of picking. When he opened his eyes, his face shifted from excitement to one of disgust. "Yuck, I got stuffed mushrooms! I didn't even know that existed!"

Emmet laughed like crazy. "Welcome to the club, man."

"Your turn, Rose." Emmet said, while pushing a menu in her direction.

She grimaced and closed her eyes. When she opened them she looked absolutely horrified. "I got fried chicken! Do any of you know how much calories that is? I can't eat that!"

Emmet tsked and said, "You have to, remember, you promised!" He then suddenly changed his mind, and gave her a puppy dog look. "Please? for me?" He begged while jutting his lip out.

"You _want_ me to be fat?" Rose asked incredulously.

"You won't be fat, you're Rose, and Rose is never fat." Emmet stated. He looked so serious I wanted to laugh.

"Fine." Rose broke, not being able to resist his puppy face and amazing logic.

She then pushed the menu over to me with a scary look on her face. "You started this I hope you get something nasty."

I gulped and closed my eyes while trailing my finger down the menu. When I opened my eyes, I grinned. "Ha, I got caviar!"

Emmet looked confused. "What's caviar?"

Edward chuckled. "It's fish eggs, you nub, it's considered a delicacy." He then turned and looked at me. You're really Ok with that? Caviar is seriously expensive."

Shit, Shit, Shit, what do I do? I can't have him thinking the amount doesn't bother me at all because then my cover could be blown, but I didn't want to backout of the game either. I threw Alice a pleading look hoping for a save but she just shrugged looking as helpless as I was.

"Uhh, don't worry about it I'm sure I can scrape up enough, it can't be that bad." I shrugged trying to look calm.

Edward gave me a questioning look but apparently decided not to say anything. THANK GOD!

Quickly changing the subject, I pushed the menu in Edward's direction. "Your turn," I said a bit nervously.

It worked! He sighed, leaving the matter at hand and closed his eyes as well. When he opened them, he frowned. "I got PB&J, this is bad."

Alice suddenly started laughing. "This is going to be epic!"

I frowned. "What's the deal with PB&J?"

Alice smiled hugely. "Edward is allergic to peanut butter."

We all laughed while handing back the menus to the waiter.

"Wait, wait." Emmet wheezed between laughs. "What exactly happens when he eats peanut butter?"

Alice giggled. "Oh it's nasty, his whole face goes red and he has these weird spots on his arms."

I frowned. "I didn't know it was that bad... Shouldn't he eat something else in that case?"

Emmet looked at me as though I was crazy. "Are you kidding me? This will be awesome!"

Edward who had been quiet 'till now, waching us with an exasperated expression, suddenly spoke up. "Jee, as nice as it is to know my friends enjoy watching me suffer, I'm sorry to inform you it isn't going to happen. I'll just buy you guys dessert."

"Party pooper," Emmet accused.

"As long as I'm not eating that sandwich you can call me whatever you like," Edward said.

"Don't think I'll forget that Eddikins," Emmet teased.

Edward started grumbling under his breath, and I think I caught the word immature a few times.

* * *

I opened the door and turned on the light, before sinking into my bed without even bothering to change my clothes.

Tonight had been utterly exhausting. I recalled how we had all kept up an easy banter until the food arrived. Now THAT was when things had started to get ugly.

The combination of a hyper Alice and an excited Emmet didn't do any good, and when the food arrived Emmet had been first to take a bite (he wanted apparently to show how brave he was) but after a single taste the mayhem began.

Apparently the food was not exactly to his liking, and that's putting it subtly. Emmet had begun nearly choking in disgust before pushing the plate away.

"I am _not_ going to eat that." He'd announced.

At that point both Edward and Rosalie who Emmet had forced to join gave him incredilous and angry looks.

"If you're not going to eat then neither will we!"

Before I was even able to make out what was going on a food fight had commenced-

and I was right in the middle of it all.

By the time everything had cooled down the resteraunt owner kicked us out (can't say I was surprised) and since it was getting late we decided to head back to our dorms.

Which leads me back to the present, lying in exhausted bed, covered with food, and in need of a shower.

All in all today had been nice, and even though dinner was a fiasco it felt good to be hanging out with people who treated me normally.

And I was right. There _was_ a difference between them and my "friends" back at home.

I got up and took a quick shower, enjoying the feeling of the warm water running down my back and cleaning the whole day away.

I returned to my bed and quickly sank into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**A\N- This is my first story, so**** I'd love to see some reviews. Stop being lazy and write a sentence, it won't kill you and it will make me very happy...**


	4. First day of school

Chapter 4- First day of school

A loud annoying sound was the first thing that registered in my mind this morning. God I hate mornings.

I groaned and covered my head with the pillow trying in vain to somehow block the noise.

"Wake up sleepyhead." A chirpy voice said, only making me groan in frustration again, wishing to go back to sleep.

"Come on! You don't want to be late on your first day, do you?" The chirpy voice continued.

"Maybe you should try pouring water on her face," a different voice suggested.

Upon hearing that, I quickly opened my eyes and jumped into a sitting position on my bed, trying to process what I was seeing even though my mind was still mostly asleep.

Alice was already up and dressed and Rosalie was no where to be seen, although I could have sworn I had heard her a moment ago.

"Oh good, you're up!" Alice said with a smile. "Now get dressed, I already picked out some clothes for you seeing as we're only going shopping this afternoon, remember?"

"Sure, whatever." I grumbled. Have I mentioned already how much I hate mornings?

Alice then left me alone to get up and I (rather begrudgingly) got dressed and went to the bathroom.

Apparently that was also where Rosalie had been all along so I just tried getting done with it all as quickly as possible as to avoid a talk with her. I knew Alice had said she would loosen up eventually but at the moment it was just really awkward for the both of us.

Breakfast past rather quickly with Alice and the others, and all too soon it was time to head to our classes.

Even though I was close to a nervous breakdown by the time we reached the school building, I took comfort in the fact that I would not have to go through with being the new girl on my own. We had all shared schedules at breakfast and I was pleased to find out that I had at least one person I knew in nearly every class.

In fact, besides Biology and Government, I had Alice in all my classes, and Edward was with me in Biology so really Government was the only class I had alone.

We entered the classroom and sat in our seats. Already I had seen more than a few students shoot curious glances in my direction. Apparently new students weren't very common for this school, and unfortunately for me I was as new as they come.

The teacher finally entered the classroom and spared me from further stares from my fellow students. My first class for the day happened to be Literature, one of my favorite classes, so I actually listened to the teacher and took notes.

Around the middle of the lesson Alice slipped me a note.

_SEE I TOLD U IT'D BE FINE UR DOING GR8..._I smiled at that, hoping that she was right. After all, all I had really wanted from the start was just to fit in.

_A BIT EARLY TO TELL THAT DONT YA THINK?_I wrote back to her. She shook her head and smiled to herself, slipping the note back to me.

I could almost hear the smugness in her tone as I read her answer. _R U REALLY DOUBTING ME? U KNOW I'M ALWAYS RIGHT._

I chuckled and wrote sarcastically _WHATEVER U SAY..._ She read the note frowning, and it took all my will power to not laugh at the disgruntled face she made. But of course, nobody is perfect, and a few choked laughs that sounded rather like a strangled cat in my attempt to disguise them as coughs escaped my lips.

"Is there a problem, Miss Swan?" The teacher asked, eyes narrowed at me.

"No no, no problems at all. Please continue." I said quickly, wishing he would avert his gaze elsewhere before I started blushing from the unwanted attention.

After giving me another look as if in daring me to interrupt his lesson again, he finally turned and continued his lecture. I kept quiet for the rest of the lesson.

"You're the new girl, Isabella Swan wasn't it?" A very high, nasal voice asked me. I turned to see that the voice belonged to a tall blond girl who was absolutely radiating Class Queen. She was probably pretty but ruined it by caking her face with make up to the extreme and was wearing a rather skimpy outfit that showed more than it covered even though Washington was rather cold this time of year.

Behind her stood two girls who gave me the impression that they pretty much idolized the blond, they were both dressed similarly to her and wore about the same amount of make up.

"Yes I'm her, but I prefer Bella." I said, realizing the blond was still waiting for an answer.

"Well, Bella, I'm Lauren, and these are Jessica and Tiffany." She introduced, all the while speaking in an extremely high voice that was beginning to give me a headache.

"We just wanted to welcome you to the school, you'll find that things work in a certain way here so I personally hope you'll catch on quickly, it'd be sad if we started off on the wrong foot wouldn't it?" Implications I didn't miss flowing freely with her words.

"Of course not," I answered, catching on quickly, no need to make enemies on my first day.

"Good, I see we're on the same page then." She said, while smiling a large false smile and continued on her way. I just shook my head to myself. Unbelievable! Does every school have a Class Queen type girl? Some things just never change, I thought to myself.

**A\N- Thanks for reading :)**


	5. Shopping with a pixie

Chapter 5- Shopping with a Pixie

I was sitting in my room, enjoying the peace and quiet after a long day of studying, curled up in a blanket and reading one of my favorite books, "Pride and Prejudice".

I had just reached the part where Elizabeth was being proposed to by none other than Mr. Darcy when suddenly a loud noise interrupted the silence.

**"**It's time, It's time, It's time!" Alice yelled loudly. Thankfully, the dorms where almost completely empty since most students had a social life and unlike me, thought that _reading_ wasn't the perfect way to spend time.

"Just hold on a second I want to finish this first," I said. Big mistake.

"Come on! We need to go _now_ if you want a whole new wardrobe! And we'll have to go by foot, so there's no time to waste." Alice continued yelling, effictively killing many cells in my poor, poor ear which by now I was surprised wasn't completely deaf.

"Fine!" I yelled back. "I'm coming, calm down already!"

A woman poked her head into our room and I recognized her as the girl's dorm manager. "Excuse me girls, would you please quiet down, some of us would like to be able to hear each other and not your screaming." She said in a polite way, yet in a rather harsh tone.

I blushed lightly and muttered "sorry", gesturing to Alice to do the same.

"Yeah, yeah we're realllly sorry." She said, then turned back to me. "Well? Are you ready yet? We need to goooo!" She said, dragging out the last word far too much.

I scrunched up my face in annoyance. "Yes, I believe you said that already."

"Then it must be true," she said smugly.

"Whatever." I sighed, "let's get this over with."

"So where are we shopping anyway?" I asked, after having walked for the past half hour across what seemed like the entire campus. Alice hadn't stopped talking the entire time telling me exactly which shops we should try and what her favorite labels were, though she didn't mention even once where we were actually going to find the place.

"You mean you don't already know?" She asked, shooting me a disbelieving look.

"Why else would I ask?" I replied rhetorically.

"Well, I just assumed you knew since I had told you already when I was showing you around yesterday, so either you have a seriously bad memory or you didn't bother to listen to me at all. I personally really hope it isn't the latter because if it is I'm deeply offended," she said in a playful tone.

I chuckled. "I'm guessing it's neither, I probably just started tuning you out the moment you said shopping."

Alice sent me another disbelieving look. "Do you really hate clothes and shopping so much? It just seems a bit unnatural, you know? I mean, you _are_ a teenage girl, you're supposed to_love_ shopping. And clothes. And boys..." She teased, trailing off suggestively.

"Never claimed to be normal, Alice dear," I answered in the same playful tone.

"Yeah well, I still can't imagine hating shopping," she said. "Too awful."

"Yeah right." I snickered.

"Anyway," she said, trying to change the subject. "Since you apparently don't remember anything of _importance_you'll just have to wait 'till we get there to find out where we're going."

"Aww, that's not fair." I whined.

"Seeing as we've already arrived without you even noticing, I'd hardly say that's unfair."

"Wait, what?" I asked surprised, stopping in my steps and actually registering our surroundings for the first time.

We were standing in front of a _huge_ building that had paths like ours leading to it from different directions. Surrounding it were many trees which were blending in with the building and were probably the reason I hadn't seen it in the first place.

"This is a mall?" I asked incredulously.

"Yep," Alice replied cheerfully. "Best I've ever known, and probably half the reason I enrolled in this school."

Now it was my turn to look at her disbelievingly. "Are you serious?" I asked, feeling I already knew the answer.

"Totally." She said, not even noticing the astonished look on my face. "Now come on, unless you came all the way out here to stare at the place from the outside..." She trailed off.

"'Course not." I elbowed her and took off, deciding to tease her a little. "Well? Are you coming?"

She laughed and ran after me.

More or less a hundred shops later (I'm not exaggerating I swear!) Alice finally agreed with me on something- It was time for a break.

We had spent the past four hours going through every shop and label known to man and I was reaching my breaking point. Even though it was fun hanging out with the little pixie, I knew it was just a matter of time before I would finally collapse; there was only so much of Alice one could endure.

Besides, I knew Alice was also going more over the top than was normal for her. Just because I didn't necessarily appreciate my parent's wealth didn't mean _she_ didn't.

I knew my wardrobe was a bit better stocked than was required for a normal teenage girl, but Alice wouldn't hear any of it. _She_ had told me to "let her have her fun" as she put it, and who was I to deny her her fun?

"Well, that was a good start. We still have to go get a few more things but we won't be rushing anymore." Alice said as she plopped down in the chair next to mine, holding an iced cappuccino.

"You mean there's more?" I asked her incredulously.

She looked at me as if I were crazy. "Of course there's more! We just got you your casual wardrobe, we haven't even got you a dress yet!"

"Why on earth would I need a dress? I asked, I was starting to feel Alice was getting a bit out of hand, we were in Washington for crying out loud! I couldn't exactly wear dresses in the nearly constant rain.

"Why would you need a dress? Why would you need a dress?! Are you kidding me? Do you _ever_ listen to me? I'm starting to think you tune me out more than actually listen to me Bella!" She ranted.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, growing irritated.

"I'm _talking_ about why you would need a _dress_ Bella. It seems that everything just escapes your mind, because I already told you yesterday while we were going to dinner about a certain event that would require a dress."

I frowned, trying to remember what Alice might have said yesterday on our way to dinner. I vaguely recalled Alice going on about some kind of event, but I had been too nervous about meeting her friends that I barely registered what she had said.

Seeing I wasn't getting anywhere with her hints, Alice suddenly exclaimed, "The "Back to School Ball", Bella! I know I told you about this!"

"Oh." I said, suddenly remembering Alice's words from yesterday.

_**"Oh and of course there's the "Back to School Ball" this Saturday. We're definetely going, it's like tradition at this school. We have a big dance on the first week back, and everybody's there it would be social suicide not to go, and I have a reputation to keep! We'll need to get dresses too since everyone is always dressed formal for it."**_

_**I remembered chuckling at her rush of words. "Breathe, Alice" I'd said.**_

"Alright, I remember! I remember! No need to get all mad." I said, now trying to calm down one rather pissed off Alice.

"Yeah well, it took you long enough," she grumbled.

I smiled, suddenly thinking of a way to appease Alice. "Hey, Alice, how about I pay for both our dresses, that way we could go shop in better stores!"

"Trying to buy my forgiveness now, why don't you?" She said, still grumbling but upon seeing my now sullen expression she started laughing.

"I'm kidding, jeesh! Stop taking stuff so seriously! You'll wrinkle at a young age if you keep that up. I already forgave you by the time you remembered, although if my acting skills were good enough to get me a free dress, I might just use them more often..."

"Whatever, let's just shop till I drop." I said, trying to change the subject.

"Don't you mean shop till _we_ drop?" Alice asked.

"Oh no, trust me, it's _definitely_ shop till _I_ drop, you'll just be waiting to ask me if I'm ready to move on to the next store."

Alice just laughed and lead me on our way.


	6. So it's a date?

Chapter 6- So It's A Date?

I lay down on my bed exhausted. I'd just finished putting away all my new clothes in the closet, and frankly I think it had taken me over two hours! How much exactly had Alice bought? I was afraid to know.

Still, the shopping trip had some value in it seeing as now I didn't have to worry about wearing something too out of the ordinary for this place. And I have to give Alice some credit, the dress she found me was absolutely perfect! It was gray at the chest and black at the skirt, knee length with a cute bow around the middle... Ughh, I just sounded like a typical teenage girl. Alice was seriously getting to me.

Anyway, I was just debating with myself if I had the energy (or will power) to get off my lazy butt and start doing my homework when Rosalie entered the room.

I automatically tensed, but then relaxed my posture. Why should I get all worked up? This was her room as well, so there was nothing unusual by her being here.

All the same, I was rather uncomfortable in her presence and had now changed my inner debate as to if I should leave the room like the coward I was or stick it out.

I had still been arguing with myself when the sound of a person clearing their throat broke the awkward silence and put a halt to my internal ramblings.

"Look, I don't really like you, and you probably don't really like me after the way I've been acting, but you're obviously here to stay and seeing as we'll be sharing the same room we're probably going to have to learn to put up with each other. I suggest we start over." Rosalie said in a disinterested voice, it sounded to me as though she was saying another's words (probably Alice's) since she didn't really sound as though she believed much of what she said.

All the same, this _was_ a step forward with her and by this point I would gladly go along with anything she had in mind if it would mean we would be on better terms. So I agreed.

For a moment, it looked like she was appraising me. She seemed to have found whatever she was looking for, because she then nodded in a satisfacted way in my direction.

And with that she turned and left the room.

* * *

Later that day, I was getting bored as hell so I decided to go for a walk on campus to get accustomed to the school, therefore feeling more comfortable here and eventually not needing Alice to accompany me whenever I wanted to go somewhere.

In theory my plan sounded reasonable enough, however not even ten minutes after leaving our dorm I was lost. Silly me forgetting I had the direction sense of a farmer in a mall at this place, and no I have no idea why that was the first comparison that came to my mind, sometimes I'm just weird like that. Who else drops everything and flies across the country just so people won't give her the special treatment anymore? Only weird people, see? Point proven.

Anyway, realizing I still had no idea where I was going I was starting to regret not listening to Alice more the day she showed me around, I really should stop daydreaming. One of these days Alice is going to be fed up with me and then I'll be stuck here all miserable and alone.

I was so lost in my thoughts, which was a bad idea by the way for someone who was trying to get unlost, (is that even a word?) that I didn't notice the bicycle rider heading fast in my direction. Now most normal people were moving to the other side allowing him space to pass, but as I said before, I hadn't really noticed anything outside my weird thoughts so I wasn't acting like one of those smart normal people and I didn't move out of the way.

"Bella look out!" I heard a familiar voice cry, but by the time I had lifted my head and realized what was happening it was too late.

I felt where we had collided, but it wasn't in the direction I had been expecting. Instead of hitting the rider face front I felt him from the side and I didn't feel the bike either.

We both crashed on the grass beside the trail. I now realized I had been on one of the roads leading to the restaurants and few shops that weren't in the mall Alice and I had emptied earlier.

I turned to look at the poor rider who had the misfortune of riding his bike on the same trail as me only to find out I hadn't collided with the rider. I could see him still on the trail, now stopping his bike and heading in my direction.

But if I hadn't crashed with him, then who..? The answer to that was evident the moment I looked to my side, and to say I was shocked would be an understatement.

Beside me, now groaning in pain, was Edward. I suddenly realized I was lying on his arm, probably squishing it and causing him more pain. I quickly sat up.

By now the rider had gotten to us as well as another few curious students who wanted to see what had happened. I could tell the rider looked slightly panicked, probably worried we were hurt. "Are you alright? Oh god, I'm so sorry! I should have stopped, but I thought you would move," he rambled, until I abruptly cut him off.

"Hey look we're fine, calm down. Stop berating yourself, it was my fault since I was daydreaming and I didn't move out of the way." I told him quickly, mostly to get him to shut up. I know, I know, it's not very nice but I really wasn't in the mood to chit chat.

Still, what I said was true. If I had gotten hurt it was because I was lost in thoughts on how I should stop daydreaming and tuning things out. The irony, huh?

I decided to focus back on Edward. For all I knew, he might actually be hurt and then I would feel guilty since it was my fault he had to push me away in the first place.

"He,y Edward, are you alright?" I asked carefully.

He then opened his beautiful green eyes and sat up, grimacing.

"I'm fine, you?" He inquired, and I suddenly noticed how nice his voice sounded. He had a strong, deep, velvety voice and I wondered how I'd missed that before.

"All whole." I joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere. He grimaced, probably from my bad joke rather than any actual pain.

"Come on, we need to get up." I told him.

When we did and everyone saw we were fine, the crowd that had started to surround us dispersed leaving me alone with Edward.

"Thanks." I told him sincerely. "If you hadn't pushed me out of the way I probably wouldn't have made it out with just a few scratches, I definitely owe you one."

"It's fine," he said. "Were you heading to get dinner?"

"Umm... No, I was actually lost, although dinner sounds like a great idea right now."

He turned thoughtful. "Would you like to go with me?"

"Sh-sure. That sounds great," I stuttered.

We both walked together in silence, quickly approaching the restaurants' area.

He led me to a small Italian joint and suddenly said, "I hope you're in the mood for pizza, Old Billy makes the best one on campus."

I nodded and smiled. "Pizza sounds great."

We sat in a booth an ordered two larges with pepperoni and I also got a salad to appease the healthy side of me.

While we were waiting for the orders to arrive, Edward now started to look nervous, about what though I had no idea. "So about you owing me, those weren't just pretty words? You mean that?" He chuckled. "Because if you do, I have a proposition, and please don't laugh." He added nervously.

"I won't." I promised. "What's your idea?"

"You've heard about the Ball this weekend, right?" He asked, and I nodded. "Of course, I live with Alice."

He chuckled at that and continued. "Well you see... Every year Alice being her usual charming self, butts into things that aren't her business and-" He started ranting.

I cleared my throat to get him back on track. "Umm, yes right, anyway, every year Alice sets me up with some random blind date for the Back to School Ball hoping I'll fall for whichever girl she chooses, and end up with her seeing as I'm the only one alone in our group."

"Well technically Rose and Em are too, but they both have something going on they're just too stubborn to admit it. Anyway, Alice always chooses the worst girls, she means well but she's really naive at times and I really don't want to go through it again, so I was hoping if you don't already have a date... Would you go with me?"

I started to answer before Edward cut me off. "Just so Alice will get off my back, this doesn't have to mean anything if you don't want it to."

"Edward it's fine really, I'd be honored to be your date at the ball." I told him sincerely, though I was a bit hurt at how hard he made it clear that this meant nothing and he was only using me to avoid Alice.

"Oh." he said as if surprised by my answer. He then grinned. "You won't regret it, I promise."

"I'm sure I won't." I told him, the food then arrived and we ate together in a comfortable silence.

* * *

**A\N- Phew! *wipes sweat off brow* another chap complete! **

**Thanks for reading!**


	7. The back to school Ball

Chapter 7- The Back to School Ball

The next few days passed rather uneventfully. School was dull, but that was nothing new, even though I'd grown rather fond of Art classes with Alice in the afternoon. Rosalie shared those classes with us and although we had definitely made progress the other day, it would be a while before I had the easy relationship Alice had with her.

I once asked Alice how she had gotten to be such close friends with her and if there was some super special secret I was missing on, but she just laughed at me and told me to give her time. Though I suppose if I had wanted a real answer from her I probably should have been a bit more serious…Oh well, maybe next time.

All in all, I was getting used to the school even though it had been just a matter of days. I felt more at home here than I had ever felt at my real home with my parents.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my parents to death and we had a great relationship but I always felt as though I was seeing things differently from them. It was as though while they always saw the beautiful side of being rich like having power, and a voice in society (working hard to achieve and maintain that) I was always seeing the negative- the people who came over to our house on social meetings and different events to eye our house while they thought no one was looking and dish out compliments and hand out big fake smiles to my parents during conversations.

And the worst part? I felt as though I wasn't escaping that, even by coming here. I loved this place but every time I saw girls like Lauren with those annoying fake smiles I'd feel like I never left home. True, it was much better than it was at home but it was there all the same.

Before I knew it, Saturday came and it was time for the Ball. It seemed a bit odd to me at first that there was a ball and not some casual party. Normally in my old school there were dances but they were either Winter formals or Prom… More end of the year, not beginning.

I asked Alice about it once but she just shrugged and said, "It's tradition, no one really knows why it started..." I left it at that.

Now, anyone who's ever attended a school dance (well any girl anyway) knows that even though the actual event doesn't happen until evening, us girls start our preparations long before that.

Even I, who despises the whole getting dressed thing, understands that you don't just show up to the dance. However, this time my preparations were nothing like what I did before. And for those of you who still haven't understood _why _I'll explain it in one short word. Alice.

If I thought she was a ball of never ending energy when we went shopping that was nothing, absolutely _nothing_ compared to Alice when it's time for makeovers both for her and others. In this case, Rosalie and myself.

Somehow, Rose managed to be mostly in charge of her own preparations- if I had to guess I'd say it's due to the fact that Alice trusts Rose more than me when it comes to appearance thus giving her some free reign, still only _some._ Which is a tad hurtful but I definitely see her point, Rose _knew_ how to make herself look good, while I just didn't.

Alice's makeovers consisted of endless prodding and poking, but I had to admit when I looked at the mirror when she was done I looked amazing! It gave me some satisfaction knowing that when Edward would see me tonight he would definitely like what he saw.

And I was so right. Alice, Rose and I met up with the boys together deciding we would all go as a group to the dance even though it was obvious we'd split up later to couples. Anyway, when the boys caught sight of us I decided that Alice's torture was definitely worth it- just seeing the guys faces (in particular Edward's...) was enough to make my day.

They were nearly gaping, although luckily for them they remembered we were in a public place and shut their mouths quickly enough before others noticed.

Edward came up to me and whispered in my ear "Well, don't you look lovely tonight."

I blushed a deep crimson and he chuckled. "Now now, no need to be embarassed." He gave me a wide grin and I somehow managed to say, "You look great as well."

It was indeed true, Edward cleaned up very nicely as did all the boys, (though I thought he looked best). I noticed Rose was dropping a few barriers tonight since she seemed to be flirting with Emmet shamelessly even more so than usual.

We all headed together to the gym which had been transformed to a more appropriate place for a school dance. Everything looked great, and I found myself having more fun than I thought possible to have at school, I didn't even let the fact that Edward only asked me as to avoid Alice put a damper on things, I was enjoying myself too much for that.

The only point in where I felt something was wrong was when I noticed Lauren sending me death glares from across the room, it was odd but I decided to leave it and I indeed forgot about it soon enough.

All in all, I was having a great time, but the best part was when the night was over and Edward dropped me off in front of the girl's dorms.

Just as I thought, we indeed had broken off as couples as the night progressed and I found myself alone with Edward. While we had still been at the dance I hadn't really noticed or minded since there were people all around us but now, here outside it was just the two of us and I was aware of my every breath I took.

"I had a great time tonight." I told him, trying to keep up a conversation.

"Yeah, I did too," he said happily. He sounded blissful and content.

We were in front of the door now and it was obvious neither of us wanted to leave.

"So, good night then." I said a bit awkwardly to him, unsure of how I was supposed to proceed from here.

But then he did some thing that shocked me. He bent down and kissed me straight on the lips. At first, I was too surprised to respond but before I knew it, I was kissing him back and even when my mind cleared some I found myself unable to pull away.

Eventually, we both had to come up for air and when we did I said, "But I thought, I thought you only asked me because of Alice!"

He smiled sheepishly but had some devious glint in his eye. "I lied, Alice never set me up with anyone."

I chuckled a bit. "Why though? Couldn't you just ask me normally?"

"I was planning to" he admitted. "But a single look from a certain beautiful girl made me forget everything I planned to say and so I came up with that story instead so you couldn't say no." He ended with a smirk.

I slapped him on the chest. "No more tricking me." I told him playfully, but really I was so glad he did just that.

* * *

"It's getting late," Edward said. "I should go now, before the girls get here."

We were in my room and had been making out on the couch just like the hormonal teenagers we were but now I was getting tired and we both felt it was time to wrap up the night.

"M'kay." I mumbled, heading fast to dream land.

"Sweet dreams, angel." He said, kissing my forehead and leaving the room, not a moment before I crashed and fell asleep dreaming pleasantly for the rest of the night about a certain boy with green eyes...


	8. Class queen's almighty plan

Chapter 8- Class queen's almighty plan

I had gotten to observing Lauren and her followers in the past few days since something weird was going on with her- I mainly tried keeping out of their way but it seemed that some one (God? Fate? Karma, perhaps? Who decides up there in what ways to make me miserable down here exactly?)

Anyway, someone apparently decided that for some reason Lauren wanted me as a part of her followers, for what though I do not know. It was a complete change of behavior since the Ball, almost as though she had decided to change tactics or something of the sort.

She was forever stopping me in the halls, asking me how I was doing and how much I liked the school or even simply waving to me every time she saw me as if we were long time best friends. It was quickly becoming maddening and I started taking longer routes to class just so I would avoid seeing her. You probably think I'm exaggerating or overreacting but seriously I think she was starting to develop stalker like tendencies by the end of the week.

I also got closer to Edward in those days, we shared only a few classes together but somehow I felt as though I saw him all the time. If Lauren was always there, than Edward was there twice as much. The difference between the two being that I actually enjoyed his presence while Lauren's just irritated me.

I wasn't really sure what Edward and I were now…to an outsider it probably seemed we were friends with benefits but it just felt like so much more and I really hoped Edward thought so too.

Anyway, it was in the middle of Calculus today when I finally found out what was Lauren's deal with me.

My seat was near the window and since I had already given up on understanding this day's lesson, I resorted to looking absent mindedly through the window at the school's surrounding landscape.

It was in the midst of all the green that something caught my eye, a vivid shocking pink that I recognized a second later as Lauren, she was (as always) accompanied by another two girls whom I didn't recognize but were obviously a part of her "followers".

It was while watching them cross the grounds, headed to the girls bathroom that I was suddenly struck inspiration – girls tend to talk about anything and everything when together and perhaps she would tell them why she was after me. It was a long shot, I'll admit but what better place was there to listen on their conversation then in a stall where they couldn't see me and at worst if they did find me I would have a legit excuse for being there. Besides I had a gut feeling that this would work, and I tended to trust my hunches.

So with a plan in mind, I asked for a hall pass to use the rest room and quickly left the class.

When outside, I started running quickly and quietly so I would reach the girls room before them, it was essential if I wanted them to talk as though I wasn't there.

I managed to get there not a moment too late, luckily they weren't looking in my direction so I was able to slip in and enter one of the stalls without notice.

Once they had entered as well, I quieted further and listened in on their conversation

"O.M.G, did you _see_ how Jess was throwing herself at Mike? She's _so_ desperate." The follower on the right remarked in an impossibly high voice.

"Totally! It was so pathetic!" The other agreed. Frankly, I was more than a bit disgusted; Jess was one of the girls I remembered seeing with Lauren on my first day- that made her their friend didn't it? Some friends these were…

"Hey, Tan, pass me the lipstick will you?" Lauren asked in that awful nasal tone of hers.

"Sure." The blond follower said, causing me to look at her carefully for the first time. The other I vaguely remembered seeing in the schools corridors, but this "Tan" girl or whatever her name was, I hadn't ever seen before. That was odd, was she new?

"So anyway, you haven't told me who's your latest boy toy, Laur, anyone I know?" Tan continued, I frowned a bit at her choice of words and turned thoughtful for a moment. So she knew people around here, did that mean she wasn't new? Then how come I hadn't seen her before? And why would she have to ask Lauren if she was seeing someone… Wouldn't she know? Arg, this was all so confusing!

"Oh yeah, you know him alright, total man candy he is." Lauren smirked.

Huh, I hadn't noticed any guy with Lauren lately… Was I really that oblivious these days?

"Well? Who is it?" Tan continued questioning, now only mildly interested.

"Edward Cullen." Lauren sighed dreamily, as I felt my fury rising. What the hell?! Edward was seeing Lauren?! How could he do that to me?

"Oh?" Tan asked, suddenly very interested and… Surprised?

"Yup, he just doesn't know it yet." Lauren stated, sounding bitter toward the end, a complete contrast from myself; I was so relieved, but then I felt guilty. I really shouldn't have doubted Edward in the first place. As if he would ever go out with the likes of Lauren! Phh, yeah right.

"And why is that?" Tan asked, sounding a tad relieved herself… Did I need to worry about _more _competition? Gah! This is _so_ not what I thought I'd be hearing!

"Because he's too occupied at the moment by Swan girl, I'm not worried though. I have a plan for her… And besides, even if that doesn't work he'll get tired of her soon enough."

"I know right? Ugh, she's such a slut, I don't know what he sees in her." The other follower who had been quiet up 'till now suddenly spoke up probably feeling a need to tribute to the conversation. But dear Lord these girls were making it hard for me to stay quiet! I was currently resisting the almighty urge to knock them unconscious with a lovely right hook, and I was normally a very non-violent person!

"Who's Swan girl?" Tan asked, sounding unmistakably pissed.

"Just a newbie." Lauren shrugged her off.

"So what's your plan for her?" Tan asked, sounding a bit too interested in my opinion.

"Basically it's just to get her close to me and then tell her how Edward has been in love with me for like _forever_ and then she'll dump him herself, leaving me to comfort poor Eddie boy…" Tanya giggled, as though the thought of ruining our relationship for her benefit was so amusing. I was honestly considering murder at this point. Hmm, now there's a thought... I wonder how pissed dad would be…? Probably very, I need a new plan.

I stopped listening to their conversation after that and thought over what was said.

So Lauren wanted Edward and she was planning on befriending me so I would later dump him… Stupid girl.

And then there was Tan, I wasn't sure if that was her real name or not but I didn't really care… She seemed to have an interest in Edward as well. What was with all these girls? So what if Edward was unbelievably gorgeous, smart, polite, romantic, a complete sweetheart, and alright, so I might see their point.

But really he was taken! And Lauren knew that! But was he really taken…? A voice in my mind whispered. You're not really together are you?

Shut up! Oh great, now I'm talking to myself. Isn't that wonderful? - note heavy sarcasm-

I was pulled out of my turmoil of thoughts by the bell, good thing too I needed a distraction and fast.

I waited until the girls were safely out of the restroom before leaving myself and started heading towards Biology, it was my only class alone with Edward (Ironically enough after that disastrous eavesdropped conversation) and I felt an idea coming up for a girls could plot all they wanted, but for now, he was _mine._ And I was planning on showing it- PDA rules be damned.


	9. Revenge, Baby

**Chapter 9 -**

After hearing of Jessica's "well thought out, diabolical plan" for me in the girl's room; no seriously how did she come up with that? Stole the idea from Zoey 101? It was a stupid plan…sheesh

I realized that if I wouldn't do anything, than she would try and carry out her plan. Now, I wasn't worried that she'd _succeed_ but I had a feeling it would be extremely annoying if she kept trying to make me her best friend.

Forget that- it was annoying the hell out of me now and I was planning on stopping it before it drove me mad.

The one problem though, was that I was no diabolical being myself. I didn't have an arsenal full of brilliant ideas on ways of payback. And I knew I couldn't confront her either; I was too much of a coward for that. So I decided on something else.

I decided it was time for plan B- Alice.

Now, you're probably wondering, what's Alice got to do with any of this? Well actually it's quite simple. See, anyone who knew Alice, knew that when it came to planning she was a mastermind; she always knew exactly how everything should be done so it would work flawlessly and just for that I needed her help.

She was all for it, apparently she hated anything to do with Lauren ever since some incident last year in which Lauren tried to get Jasper even though he was still dating Alice at the time. She failed of course, but Alice never really forgave her for that one…

Turns out- Alice also knew our friends better, being with them longer. According to Alice, Emmet was basically prank king and would have some great ideas for us. And besides, he would hate not having a part in any kind of prank.

So after a lot of thinking, pacing and nearly banging our head in the walls out of frustration, we finally came up with the perfect plan.

We decided to put it to action the next day at school, after all what use was a good prank without public humiliation? Hmmm….maybe there's still hope that I do have a diabolical mind! Naa…would be nice though.

We woke up extra early in the morning to get everything set up.

We were _supposed_ to continue our usual morning routine so we wouldn't seem suspicious, but that was much easier said than done.

All during breakfast, I was giddy with anticipation and it showed– I think I was bouncing in my seat at some point. I don't normally approve of such immature ways of handling things, but I'm touchy when it comes to Edward.

And those bitches needed to be set in place. Especially Lauren.

So with that all settled, we headed off to our classes like every other morning.

We entered the classroom and waited patiently for the results of prank #1. You see, we decided pranking them once would be no-where near enough. So Alice, Emmet and I created an entire day full of pranks. Our very own early April Fools. Custom made for a few especially annoying girls…

Lauren finally came around mid lesson. I was relieved when I saw her; I was beginning to worry she'd decided not to show up at all.

The results of prank numero uno were evident the moment she entered.

This morning, we had emptied her shampoo bottle and filled it with color dye. Emmet claimed that to be extremely amateur so he added another step.

He quietly sneaked around in her room, collecting all the hats he could find and hiding them. Then, he pulled out of his "pranks bag" as he called it a very large -very red- sombrero and left it by her mirror.

So now, instead of wearing her long flat blond hair down like always, she was wearing a large red sombrero in which all her hair was stuffed in. She looked ridiculous and she knew it- it was evident in the way she tried to make herself go unnoticed. Quite the contrast from usual. Very nice change, if I do say so myself.

She managed to sit in her seat without the teacher noticing, but the moment he turned around he caught sight of her.

It was quite common for Lauren to be late or even just ditch so he didn't bother giving out a speech but it was obvious that the hat caught his eye and annoyed him. He must have thought she was laughing at him in a way.

"Ms. Mallory, you are aware that this school has a "no hats in classes" policy?" he asked in a an annoyed tone

"But Mr. Pattinson! I can't take this hat off!" Lauren whined

"And _why_ is that?" he questioned, more annoyed now

"Because…umm because….cuz….I just can't!" she continued speaking in that incredibly whiny voice

"That's not a reason Ms. Mallory" he scoffed "Now please take off your lovely hat" he requested again

Surprisingly, Lauren acknowledged defeat and took the hat off. Only to reveal- extremely green hair.

Mr. Pattinson raised an eyebrow but said nothing. After all the school didn't have a hair dye policy.

The rest of the class seemed shocked, but couldn't say a thing. Lauren sank into her seat, clearly wishing to be invisible.

Part one of prank day: Complete

* * *

The next few classes continued with few surprises. My personal favorite was during gym, when Emmet somehow managed to sneak off and cut holes in the follower girls' change shirts. Holes right over the chest area.

So when they changed clothes after gym, more or less twenty girls found themselves with their bra's to visible to the world, it vaguely reminded me of teletubbies- only, hooker version. I sincerely hoped Rose wouldn't smack him too hard for that one.

But the best part by far for Lauren was at lunch. Apparently Lauren had been in the same school with Alice since kindergarten. This helped our plan immensely.

We went through old yearbooks until we found what we were looking for.

A picture.

Somehow Emmet had the picture enlarged to an enormous banner. One which we set up right above the outdoor cafeteria, where most of the student body spent lunch after classes.

We came with everyone else, as to not look suspicious. Luckily, we only had to wait for about 5 minutes before Lauren and the crew came along.

I could tell she arrived by a certain familiar high pitched shriek. Ah, this was epic.

On the banner was a picture of one very fat, pimply girl. Three guesses who was the girl?

Yes! You guessed correctly! Lauren, only before a few cosmetic surgeries…I always wondered where the plastic Barbie look came from.

I didn't have anything against her in that picture, she actually looked almost cute without the heavy make up and face changes. But I could tell it bothered Lauren. And that's really all I needed.

Beside the picture, to make things worse for Lauren we also added a current picture we took from her facebook profile. Just so no one would be confused as to who was in the picture, she did look very different after all.

On the banner it said- _Before and After_

The students were all mostly shocked, very few had known her and seen her at that point. But the best reactions came from the followers.

They stood there with their mouths agape, disbelieving their very eyes. It was very comical to watch, I could tell our gang got a kick out of everyone's reactions.

I knew this wouldn't stop Lauren, she didn't even know who was behind all of this. But still it was fun, letting out my steam at her and those annoying girls like that, and it was also a great bonding activity.

I hadn't known Emmet all that well before, he was more of a friend of a friend. But I truly enjoyed spending time with him and Alice. It was great fun, even if they were a bit of a hyper combination.

Only later that evening, lying in bed thinking of my day did I realize that, without me even noticing, a whole day had passed without having thought of being rich and getting special treatment from others even once. The first day, and hopefully not the last either.

* * *

**A\N- You know what to do...REVIEW!**


	10. Pleasant Surprises and Birthday Parties

**Chapter 10- Pleasant Surprises and Birthday Parties**

Our little pranks, that were at first created for the sole purpose of getting on Lauren's nerves without her knowing, and relieving a bit of stress along the way, were creating quite the uproar at the school.

No one knew who did it, luckily for us, since Lauren went running to mommy by the end of the day. Lauren's mother happened to be in the board of governors, and therefore was an influential person on the school.

Just another one of the reasons why Lauren was sure she friggin' owned the place. If only she knew exactly how influential _my_ parents could be, maybe then she'd shut her mouth a bit. But alas, I don't think I'll be giving up my secrecy for the likes of someone like Lauren. Not when I went to such measures to get it in the first place.

As I was saying before, it was creating quite the uproar. "Why?" you make ask, well because not-so-surprisingly, a very large number of students had unfinished issues with the girl. She may have been class queen, but she sure as hell stepped on a lot of people to get there, thus creating, a whole new group in school who were calling themselves, "The Lauren-Haters". Unsophisticated, but to the point.

It would have happened eventually without us, but_ our _little pranks, simply broke the damn, so to speak. People thought that she was an "untouchable", we proved them wrong, and so they wanted a shot at her too.

And with Lauren so caught up with people pranking her, having their revenge on her left and right, she became slightly paranoid, and all but forgot her plan with Edward. Who has time to think about boys, when they have half the school out for their blood? Now I'm exaggerating a bit, but you get the picture.

So with Lauren finally out of the way, I suddenly had plenty of time to focus on Edward. Not that I didn't have before, but things were changing between us, becoming more intense. After that first night, when Edward admitted he felt something for me, we became closer. Yet somehow, we had been stuck since then in a weird stage of friends with benefits. I'm not sure there's quite a name for what we are.

I wanted things to change, to be officially boyfriend and girlfriend, or at the very least go on a normal date. But at the same time, I was terrified. All my life, I've been told that relationships are based on honesty. That you can't be with someone, if you can't be open with them. And I _wasn't _being completely honest with Edward.

I was hiding from him a huge part of my life, of who I was. I knew Edward was a good person, and if he was brought up like Alice than I should have nothing to worry about. Everything turned out great with Alice. But you have to understand, my entire life was full of people turning fake around me. Edward wasn't a part of that, and I didn't want to combine the two. I was afraid he would change. I wanted him to stay exactly as he was.

Despite my wishes, I knew it was just a matter of time. I would tell him the truth, should he care to ever progress deeper into our relationship. Of that I was sure. I just had to hope Edward would take it well.

"Hey!"

I briefly stopped in my tracks and turned around. I would recognize that voice anywhere. Oddly fitting for him to suddenly show up when my thoughts kept revolving around him.

He caught up to me and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "Where are you going? I thought you were going to wait for me after Biology," he reminded.

Oh. Right.

"Must have gotten too caught up in my thoughts I guess…I forgot you had to speak to Mr. Banner."

"Oh so now I'm so uninteresting you can't even remember me? You don't think about me at all?" He asked with a playful pout.

Ha. If he only knew how much I _did _think about him. He'd be running for the hills thinking I was obsessive.

I decided to play along. "Nope," I said popping my lips on the P. "Not at all." What a blatant lie. I'm surprised I managed to say that with a straight face.

He shot me a wicked grin, the kind that hinted that he was up to something. "I find that hard to believe," he said, then circled his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

He began kissing the bottom of my neck, going up painfully slowly. "You mean, you don't think about this…" He murmured, and began traveling with hands on my sides and back. "Or this, perhaps…"

What had we been talking about? Ah, I couldn't care less. Not when he was like this. I could feel _him _all around me. His scent, his hands, his _mouth_…Oh god can a person swoon over a mouth? With one as talented as his, I could see no reason why not to.

"All right, that's it. Break it up now love birds," a certain chirpy voice interrupted, totally ruining the moment.

"No. Now go away," Edward muttered at her, continuing his thorough inspection of my neck.

I heard Alice's exasperated sigh, and giggled. This situation had been repeating itself quite a few times lately.

As much as I would have liked letting Edward to continue his exploring, I was rather uncomfortable with having an audience. Guess it's time to head back to the real world.

I pulled away a bit from Edward and resisted giving in to his puppy face. "Later," I promised.

He smiled. "I'll hold you onto that."

"Good god people! You'd think you two were newly weds the way you're acting!"

"Yeah, yeah you've said it before. Why are you here, Alice?" Edward asked impatiently.

"What? I'm not allowed to speak to my best friend and brother without having a motive?" Alice asked innocently.

Edward narrowed his eyes at her. "Well you better have had a reason to interrupt us…"

"Oh shush, Edward, and be thankful I'm the one who stopped you and not some random teacher."

"Alice," I said exasperatedly. "What do you need?"

"I need your advice on something," she said a bit hurt. "But if you want me to leave so badly…"

Great, I hurt her. What to say..? "Of course I don't want you to leave, Alice. What did you want my advice on?"

Apparently I chose the right words, since she brightened up considerably. "Girl stuff," she said pointedly.

Ah, she wanted to talk to me alone. Edward seemed to get her hint as well, and found it as a cue to leave.

"I'll see you later," he told me, then turned to Alice. "Stay safe. Both of you."

"We're going to _talk, _Edward, not go bungee-diving," she countered.

"You can never know," I heard him mutter before he left. Fortunately, Alice didn't hear him. So I didn't need to hear yet another lecture from her on his over-protective ways. Not for now, at least.

"So, what did you need my help with?" I asked once he was gone.

"Oh I don't really need your advice," she said casually. "I just needed Edward gone, to tell you something."

"Well…?" I urged.

"Edward's birthday is coming up this Thursday, and I thought you'd like to be a part of the planning. As his unofficial girlfriend, you know." Alice was well aware of my thoughts on the situation.

"It is? Why didn't he tell me? Thursday is only four days away!"

"Edward doesn't care much for his b-day. God knows that if it wasn't for us he wouldn't even bother to celebrate."

"I can relate to that," I said with a sigh.

Alice suddenly looked suspiciously at me. "When is_ your_ birthday, Bella?"

Shit. Busted. "September 13th?" I said cautiously, fully aware that Alice would blow up.

"What?!" She exclaimed. Right on time. It's kind of scary how well I know her, considering I met her only a little over a month ago. Well we talked before that, but that doesn't count.

"Bella! That was like two weeks ago! Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because, I don't like being in the spotlight, and birthdays ensure that. Besides, why celebrate my aging?"

" Your aging? Aren't you a little young for that?"

"Maybe," I admitted, defeated. "But I still don't like being in the center of attention."

"Yeah, yeah." Alice muttered, no longer listening to me. "Do you realize what this means? I need to get together a double birthday party now! That means you aren't allowed in the planning either. Damn it! I wanted it to be a surprise!"

Her face suddenly turned empty, and her eyes glassed over as if she was seeing things others weren't seeing.

"Umm, Alice?" I asked carefully, slightly fearful. No answer, she just continued muttering to herself. Oh god, I think I broke her. "Alice?" More muttering.

Well if she wasn't planning on answering me, maybe she would respond to Jasper? Where was he anyway?

I decided to call him, he'd probably have more experience on what to do when Alice is set off. Frankly, I was close to freaking out.

He came about five minutes later. Thank god. Alice still wasn't responding to me, she was in a completely different world. Muttering something about birthday cakes and Emmet. Oh dear.

Jasper started speaking to her, quickly forgetting of my presence. Okay then…

.

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That was weird.

* * *

**A\N- I know I haven't updated in like forever! Don't kill me please! I made this chapter extra long for you guys! And if I'm already at it, I have a totally legit excuse for not updating! I've started a new story, and I'm mainly focusing on it right now. **

**Please R&R it guys! It'd mean the world to me! Really! It's called "A Different Ending" and it's about Bella waking up in a world where her life is a best-seller. **


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